Brian Barneclo (b. 1972 – Indianapolis, IN) is a San Francisco-based artist recognized for large-scale murals that take on a uniquely stylized figure/ground-oriented vernacular. He describes his style as a sort of Cubist-sign-painter-folk-modern kind of thing. His work is seen in a range of areas, including fine art galleries as well as murals- public, private, and commercial. With a Fine Arts degree from Indiana (IU BFA 95), he moved to San Francisco, lured by skateboard culture and Beat Generation nostalgia with a vision of some sort of jazz/punk aesthetic in mind. In his early years, he learned his ABCs (Always Be Creating ethos) dating back to Jr. High School while running around with his friends, learning how to express themselves through photography, skateboarding, shooting videos, drawing, and making homemade zines.  These experiences instilled in him a creative appetite.

He arrived in San Francisco in 1996 due to Mission School’s peaking influence. He remembers the scene being fairly active, with “tons of group shows, and lots of characters oozing with ambition.” During this time, Barneclo participated in many of the group shows (Shooting Gallery, 111 Minna, Future Primitive) while working a side job painting murals and signage for mostly restaurants. In 2004, he was awarded a commission by the SF Bay Guardian for the first of what would become a career painting murals.

Perhaps his greatest achievement to date is the Systems Mural Project. In 2008, he spotted a 600-foot wall (40’ high), perfectly suited for a mural, sitting right along Caltrain tracks near the San Francisco station. “Somebody should paint that”, he thought. “I should paint that!”. Flash forward to 2011, and the mural was complete, but only after collecting permissions, aligning with fiscal sponsor Intersection of the Arts, raising corporate funding, becoming a Caltrains certified rail worker, receiving a proclamation from Mayor Gavin Newsom, and appearing in a Super Bowl ad for Levi’s/Dockers. The title refers to the project’s inspiration to align with the understanding of whole systems as the highest path to a healthy society.

Barneclo continues to parse his attention to a wide range of projects. He bounces around from designer to muralist to studio artist, which allows him to access different aspects of his creativity.  Designing a mural or working commercially involves the challenge or pleasure of collaborating, but he acknowledges that the highest form of expression comes from painting in the studio, expressing from the higher self or that which flows through. And that could involve simply doodling. When it’s going well, he claims he has nothing to do with it. Just get out of the way. This is where working with a figure/ground style allows for more immediate expression and communication with an audience.  Most recently, he has found a new form of expression through experimental animation, which he presents online or in live large-scale projection.